Who's Who in China (3rd edition)/Wang Shao-lien

Mr. Wang Shoh-lian

王康字少荃

(Wang Shao-lien)

Mr. Wang Shoh-lian was born at Tientsin, in 1866. He was a Provincial graduate under the Ching regime, and was one of the earliest graduates of the Imperial Naval College, Tientsin. After his graduation, he was sent to England where he first studied in the navy and later devoted himself to law and politics. Upon his return from England he became a professor of the Tientsin Naval College. Later he was transferred to become the Dean of the Wu-Ch'eng College of Peking. During Yuan Shih-kii's office as Viceroy of Chihli, he held the post of Dean of the Peiyang University, Tientsin. In 1908, Mr. Wang was appointed Chairman of the Governing Board of the Chihli Educational Commission. Subsequently he became President of the Chihli Provincial Assembly. In 1909 Viceroy Yang Shih-hsiang of Chihli appointed him Special Deputy to investigate the Kaiping mine issue. In June 1912, the two mining companies, the Lanchow Mining and the Kai-ping Mining rere amalgamated into the Kailan Mining Administration. Mr. Wang became a member of the Board of Directors of the Chinese component of this joint enterprise. After the outbreak of the First Revolution in October 1911, the Chihli people organized the so-called “Peace-Preservation Society" and elected Mr. Wang as its first president. This Society under the direction of Mr. Wang rendered valuable service in maintaining the local order in Tientsin during the revolution. Upon the establishment of the Republican government in 1912, the society was dissolved. Then Mr. Wang devoted himself to educational activities exclusively, still holding his post in the Peiyang University. In March 1914 Yuan Shih-kai called a special conference to revise the Provisional Constitution. Mr. Wang was a member of this assembly representing Chibli. In April 1915 he was appointed a member of Yuan Shih-kai's State Council. Subsequently he became President of the Peiyang University. In 1916 he left the University to assume the post of assistant general manager of the Kailan Mining Administration, still serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the Chinese component.